Sunday, June 8, 2014

Last weekend Kat and I made the trip to attend the inaugural BookCon . The one day event offered panels, autographing and chances for fans to connect. We had to see it for ourselves so here is our account of BookCon 2014

For the uninitiated, #WeNeedDiverseBook is a movement that refuses to be a trend. In response to the disparity of minorities in children's and YA literature, Ellen Oh and 21 other authors worked together to created the #WeNeedDiverseBooks campaign that ran for 3 days in May.

We arrived 30 minutes early and the room was already packed. It was great to see so many people excited about diversity and books. For me it was so cool to see a panel full of authors of color. Seeing so many different people really shows how problematic representation is in YA and children's fiction.

As the authors talked about how they dealt with identity in their reading lives, I found myself nodding along to some of their experiences.

Ellen Oh announced the future of the #WeNeedDiverseBooks campaign and she is in it for the long haul. Here are some of the highlights :

#WeNeedDiverseBooks will work with NEA's Read Across America to promote diverse books and authors.

Last weekend Kat and I attend the first ever BookCon in NYC. The one day event offered panels, autographing and chances for fans to connect with publishers. We had to see it for ourselves, so here is our account of BookCon 2014. Based on my experiences here is who I think shined at BookCon.

#WeNeedDiverseBooks Panel

The #WeNeed Diverse panels found its way onto the BookCon agenda after the grassroots campaign started in response to BookCon's lack of diversity and other scary stats about representation in literature. It was great seeing people so excited about diversity in literature and they released a lot of amazing news.

Macmillan Publishing

While some big six publishers decided to forgo having a satellite booth an BookCon, Macmillan supported consumers and BookCon with full force. Macmillan offered multiple editor's picks

panels focusing on YA, genre fiction, reading groups and kids books. At each event readers could hear about new books and pick them up afterwards.

I stopped by the reading group panel and I thought it was very well organized and the staff did a great job of keeping everything in place.

Scholastic

Shadowhunter earrings FTW !

I think Scholastic did something pretty cool at their booth. They made you work a little for your swag. In order to get an awesome I Read YA tumblr, readers has to rec a book on social media with #ireadya. My rec was The Raven Boys audio, yes I picked a Scholastic book !

The Fans

I knew John Green and Cassandra Clare had a big fans, but I was floored to look out and see all TFIOS and Shadowhunter gear. I also loved how all the other fandoms were representing everything from Harry Potter, Doctor Who , Marvel and even Friday Night Lights ? Sometimes all on one person.

Meeting Danielle Fishel !

I usually never do celebrity stuff at BEA. I always figure the line is going to be to long. However, I was walking on the floor when I passed the Danielle Fishel signing. I just hopped in line just to see if I could met her. The line went by so fast and she was so great with the fans. I mean she had no problem pulling fans in for a photo.

The BookCon App

What was cool about the app is it had this social media component that was like a mix of Twitter and Instragram. I liked seeing who was going to be there and reading live reactions. Even after BookCon I still see people interacting on the app. The app and its content will be available until 2015.

Wednesday, June 4, 2014

I don't think we need to introduce John Green's contemporary YA novel, The Fault In Our Stars. The film premieres this week and to celebrate we are giving away a TFiOS prize pack which includes a tote bag and and movie-tie in edition of the novel. I know we will be checking the film out this weekend, will you ?